


Hard Feelings

by YouCantKeepMeDown



Series: Princes, Pirates, and Vampires [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Canon-Typical Violence, Gabriel flirts under any circumstances, Hurt Angel Wings, Lucifer is a bloodthirsty idiot, M/M, Mention of torture, Politics, Princes & Princesses, it'll turn out alright though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 00:39:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14008341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouCantKeepMeDown/pseuds/YouCantKeepMeDown
Summary: Some people in human and angel countries are not over the war yet and there's still bad blood between both parties. When Sam involuntarily becomes the poster child for grudges that are still held and Gabriel vanishes at the same time, he's worried the two might be connected. He sets out to set things right.





	Hard Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the SPN AU and Trope Bingo for the square Prince!Sam.
> 
> Thanks to my wonderful beta reader [Coplins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coplins), and to Askatosch for giving me more and more ideas for this verse.

Adam hears the raised voices, before he even steps into the room he shares with Michael. Today seems jinxed. He has just watched Sam and Dean fighting over the fact that Sam wants to leave with the pirates again. And now his new family is fighting, too?

Adam sighs, takes a deep breath and opens the door. All four of King Charles’ children are inside, wings in various states of angry display as far as the low ceiling – well, low for angel standards – and the walls allow it.

“It might make him stay!” Gabriel says just when Adam closes the door behind him.

“So you can keep trying to get into his pants?” Lucifer asks angrily. “Oh, of course that’s important!”

Raphael notices Adam first. She clears her throat discreetly, which makes Michael look up, who had listened with a worried expression so far. “Lucifer! Gabriel!” he says.

Then the two fighting brothers look up, too, and then four six winged angels are staring at Adam. Is there something they don’t want him to know about?

“Is it a bad time to want to be in my own room?” Adam asks sarcastically.

“No,” Michael says. “Maybe your opinion can help clear this up.”

“Maybe you can talk some sense into this big bag of dicks.” Gabriel points at Lucifer, whose wings promptly go back to a full angry display.

“What is this about?” Adam hurries to ask, before they can go back to fighting. He steps further into the room and takes one of the chairs that aren’t made for angels anyway. 

Michael shifts a bit in a way that Adam knows as a tell that he’s slightly uncomfortable, even though it doesn’t show on his face and barely in the way he keeps his wings. “Apparently, Sam was our prisoner during the war without us knowing.”

Adam furrows his brows. “He never told us.”

“Yes,” Gabriel says. “It was at the end of the war and when he got back all the talk about peace was going on already. He didn’t want to jeopardize it by telling that he was whipped by one of our officers who tried to find out, if he really had captured a prince or not.”

Wait, what? Adam looks at his husband. “I thought there were orders to treat all prisoners decently?”

Michael shifts again. “There were. He may have gotten carried away or I may have made it sound like they didn’t apply in this case. The officer in question is dead, but Gabriel thinks we owe Sam an official apology.”

“Which will make you look weak!” Lucifer growls. “Michael, there are still a lot of people in our country that think the peace was a bad idea in the first place. If you start apologizing for things that happened during the war, they’ll see it as you groveling in front of humans.”

Adam huffs. “He married a human. What do those people think our relationship is like?”

The silence that meets tells him that there may be some more things he doesn’t know yet. He looks at his husband. “Michael?”

It’s Raphael who speaks, though. “They call you a war trophy.”

“Not in the open anymore,” Michael adds. “Not since Lucifer almost skewered the last person who did so.”

That almost makes up for Lucifer insisting that Michael would look weak, if he apologized. Almost.

“But Lucifer is right,” Michael adds. “There’s still quite a bit of unrest about the peace. There are people claiming that with just a bit more time we would’ve actually won. Throwing a public apology to Sam in the mix, letting them know that we had Sam prisoner in the first place, might make things explode.”

Adam hates that he gets that. He really hates politics sometimes. “Do it anyways,” he says. “You just have to make it sound right.”

* * *

“Adam!” Lucifer follows him down the corridors, wings brushing the walls, until he catches up with him. Finally he grabs Adam’s shoulder to spin him around, and Adam’s back lands against the wall, Lucifer’s wings curved towards him as far as the room allows. Usually, Adam likes Lucifer like that, but right now he’s annoyed with his boyfriend.

“You have to tell him you didn’t mean that, Adam!” Lucifer insists. “I understand your hurt feelings, but more trouble is the last thing Michael needs right now, with the Leviathans at our borders again.”

He’s not wrong about that of course, but the war trophy thing hit deeper than Adam had expected. “Why do I have to change my mind?” he asks. “Why don’t you just make some good points and make him listen to you, if you’re so right about this?”

Lucifer scowls at him. “It concerns humans, so he’ll listen to you about it.”

“Well, sorry I’m not actually just a war trophy, then. I stated my opinion, I stand by it.”

Lucifer’s feather rustle in frustration, and for a moment it looks like he’s going to say something more.

“Prince Adam?” comes a voice.

Lucifer half turns, and that makes it possible for Adam to look past his wings and see a palace guard standing in the corridor, looking at Lucifer with quite a bit of distrust in his eyes. “Is everything alright, my prince?”

Adam nods distractedly. “Of course. Just carry on.”

The guard lingers for a moment longer, watching Lucifer, before he finally nods and walks away.

Lucifer looks at Adam with furrowed brows. “Did he think I was threatening you?”

Adam shrugs. “I’m not surprised. Have you seen yourself when you’re angry?”

That just makes Lucifer look after the guard with even more discontent on his face. After a moment he shakes himself out of it. “So, your decision is final?”

Adam nods. “I think there’ll be trouble no matter what Michael does, so he can as well do the right thing.”

“We’ll all pay the price for that.” With that Lucifer walks away.

* * *

“We’re all sorry you’re leaving again, my prince.”

“Huh?” Sam looks up from trying to decide which books he should bring. On a pirate ship, there’s always the danger that they’ll come into contact with salt water, but no books isn’t an option. He’s glad Jess agrees with that and had a mostly waterproof chest being made where he can put at least a few prized possessions.

The maid who had been packing his clothes, blushes a bit. “I mean, we all get that you don’t want to be around those winged bastards much – pardon my language – but it’s still sad to see you leaving so soon again.”

Sam blinks. “Why do you think I don’t want to be around the angels?”

“Well …” The maid blushes again. “Of course most of us haven’t heard anything but rumors about what they did to you, but I mean … the serving staff … we can’t help but notice … the scars, you know. I mean, we don’t mean to intrude,” she hastens to add, “but we’re not blind. The older servants all remember that you came back with them from the war. And we get it, that’s all I wanted to say. Some of us even think you deserve some payback for it.”

Oh, nonono. This is bad. This is exactly why he didn’t want to stay in the first place. He’s a danger to the peace. “Don’t say that!” he says maybe a bit too abruptly judging by the way the maid flinches. “We’re at peace with Caelum. That peace treaty is important for our country. The angels are our allies now, don’t forget that! And I have no hard feeling. I just like it at sea.”

“Of course, my prince. I’m sorry.” But she doesn’t look convinced. As if she doesn’t believe that he actually means what he says.

But what is he supposed to say to convince her? Maybe leaving sends the wrong signals after all? Now he curses the fact that he agreed to come back at all. They continue packing in silence after that.

* * *

It’s the morning of the day Sam is supposed to leave. He’s looking for Adam in the castle garden to say goodbye, when he hears the rustle of big wings nearby. He can’t help but flinch a little, still too used to this sound meaning something bad. But it’s just Lucifer setting down close enough for the wind from his wings to tousle Sam’s hair.

Sam isn’t quite sure what to make of Lucifer. He looks like he’s about to murder someone most of the time, but he always behaves civilly enough. “Have you seen Gabriel?” the angel asks.

“No,” Sam says, “should I?”

“Well, he’s around you most of the time, isn’t he?”

Well, yes, Gabriel had shown quite an interest in him, even though Sam had tried to rebuff him gently more than once. His golden wings might be beautiful and he’s good at making Sam laugh, but Sam can’t see himself with an angel. He isn’t sure how Adam does it, if he’s honest. “Sorry,” he says, “haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

“Weird,” Lucifer mutters. Then he’s off again.

It’s almost time for Sam to leave, when official announcement comes. Gabriel is gone. They found a few golden feathers down by the beach. And a bit of blood, as if there had been a fight.

And that’s more than just a bit weird, because there’s no one with reason to attack a prince of Caelum. Except …

Sam has to think of what the maid said again. About those winged bastards and how some people think there should be payback for what they did to him.

That’s why he calls her to his room that evening under the pretence of needing help with unpacking again since he’s going to stay until the crisis is resolved.

“Have you heard someone attacked Gabriel?” he asks after a while.

She looks at him as if she’s trying to discern his intentions. “Yes,” she says. “Very tragic.” She doesn’t even try to sound as if she means it.

“It’s quite a feat,” Sam says. “We always tried that during the war, but never managed. I’d almost like to congratulate the people who pulled it off.”

That gets him a look of barely concealed excitement. “So you have no love lost for the wingboys after all?” she asks.

Sam huffs and feels sick about the lie he’s about to tell. He might not be particularly fond of angels in general, but especially Gabriel doesn’t deserve this. “No,” he says, “you’re right. I’d actually like to get some revenge.”

She smiles. “You might get it after all, with what happened.”

“Well, it’s a bit disappointing, if other people do it for me.”

That gets him a thoughtful look, but not much more. Well, the bait is laid out, now he has to wait. The question is, should he tell someone? He isn’t sure, if he wants to hint at what this is looking like, but maybe he should let Jess know. She’ll have his back in case something happens.

* * *

Adam understands that Lucifer is worried, but if he doesn’t stop pacing right this minute, Adam might go insane. He puts the book down he’s been trying to read, and stares at his boyfriend. Michael is still busy trying to help with the search for Gabriel. But Lucifer apparently can’t be trusted to behave with how worried he is right now, so it’s Adam’s task to have an eye on him. It feels like they’re both grounded.

“That’s it!” Lucifer says. “I’m out of here.” He walks toward the window.

Adam is on his feet and between Lucifer and the window in the next second. “Don’t. You know Michael’s orders.”

Lucifer scowls at him. “Michael can shove his orders up his ass. I’m going to look for my brother now!”

“Michael and Raphael and half the kingdom’s guards are looking for Gabriel! They’ll find him!”

“I can help!” Lucifer takes a step forward, wings spread.

Adam holds his ground. “Or you can cause a diplomatic incident, if you find his attackers first and forget yourself. Michael doesn’t trust you to stay level headed, so you stay put!”

And that gets him the most murderous look he had ever received from Lucifer. “Look at you, being his loyal guard dog now, are you, puppy?”

That’s usually a nickname that Lucifer uses as an endearment by now. Having it flung as an insult again hurts. Adam takes a deep breath to try and stay calm. “Yes,” he says, “isn’t it nice that at least one of us stays loyal to him?”

Lucifer’s eyes turn icy at that. “I wouldn’t call it staying loyal that you’re trying to make more trouble for him by insisting he apologizes to Sam!”

Oh, of course they’re coming back to that now. “I’m not going to discuss that with you while you’re worried stupid!”

“Fine,” Lucifer says, “then just let me pass.”

“No.”

Another step forward, wings raised.

And it’s not that Adam is afraid of his boyfriend, but he’s getting a bit worried by now. He doesn’t actually want to fight. “I mean it, Lucifer,” he says. “If you want to try and murder Gabriel’s attackers and ruin everything Michael and Dean have built up, you have to go through me. And no matter how stupidly bloodthirsty you are right now, I still love you and I really don’t want to hurt you. So don’t make me.”

That makes Lucifer deflate a little. His wings drop to a slightly less aggressive display. He huffs. “You couldn’t take me in a fight.”

“Probably not.” Now it’s Adam who steps forward. He reaches out and cards his fingers through one of Lucifer’s smallest wings. “I don’t want to find out.”

All of Lucifer’s wings drop a little more. “If they hurt Gabriel ...”

“You’re going to kill them all, I know.” Michael steps into the room and closes the door behind him. With just a few steps he reaches Lucifer and pulls him into an embrace.

“Did you find him?” Lucifer asks.

“No, and it’s too dark to fly now. We’ll try again tomorrow. The humans keep searching in the meantime.”

A string of curses comes from Lucifer’s lips, and when Adam exchanges looks with Michael, he sees the same worries in his husband’s eyes. The only difference is that Michael manages to stay level headed most of the time.

He looks at the bed that’s by no means big enough for two angels and a human, but they’ll definitely have to try and make it work. “How about we don’t sleep in separate rooms tonight?” he asks. Since no one knows that Lucifer is part of Adam’s and Michael’s marriage arrangements, Lucifer has his own room.

“It’s cute how you think any one of us will get much sleep tonight, puppy.” Now it’s an endearment again.

Adam shrugs. “Even more reason to not spend it alone, isn’t it?”

“Well, sometimes you do make good points,” Lucifer says.

Michael looks from one to the other. “You’re still fighting over the apology, aren’t you?”

Adam shrug, looking at Lucifer. “I think we have a truce until Gabriel is found.”

After a moment Lucifer nods.

“Oh well.” Michael sighs. “I take what I can get.”

* * *

It has to be the middle of the night, when Sam gets woken up by a knock at the door. When he calls for the person to come in, it’s the maid again. “My prince,” she says. “If you really want revenge, come with me now.”

He hurriedly pulls on some pants and boots and grabs his sword, then he follows her.

The maid leads him to the outer castle walls where there is someone in the uniform of the castle guards waiting. Sam recognizes him. “Gordon!” He’s one of the few people that survived being Zachariah’s captive with him and Sam knows he has matching scars on his back. He also remembers how Gordon has talked about ripping off angel wings all the way back after they had escaped. He had only very reluctantly agreed to keep silent about what happened to them, when Sam had asked him to. Apparently he hadn’t completely kept that promise.

The man grins. “My prince. It’s been a long time. But I see you also can’t get over what they did to us.”

Sam just nods, because he can’t stomach another lie, but it seems to be enough. Gordon looks really pleased. “I’m afraid we still have to blindfold you, before we take you to the winged bastard. It’s just a safety measure.”

“I understand,” Sam says like it’s no big deal, even though he’s cursing inside. And so far it’s just been a suspicion, but knowing that Gabriel is in the hands of people that want revenge as badly as Gordon really worries him. The angel might have had flirted a bit aggressively at times, but what Zachariah had done wasn’t his fault. To the contrary Sam really likes him the more he thinks about it now.

Sam keeps still anyway while they blindfold him, and then he gets taken through a side gate out of the castle. After a while, they ask him to sit in the back of a cart. And he tries to listen for some clues where they are, but it’s just the cart rumbling down uneven roads.

It takes quite a while until they stop and a hand on his shoulder makes him flinch. Gordon leads Sam down some uneven path, and he can hear the sound of a nightly forest around him. Then there are hushed voices, and a heavy door being opened, hinges squeaking. A moment later Gordon asks him to duck and they step inside a cold room.

“You can take the blindfold off now.”

When Sam does so, he’s standing inside the tunnel of something that looks like a mine. There are lamps hanging on old support beams, illuminating damp rock walls. Gordon motions to him to follow him further inside, so Sam does. His heart is beating fast by now. Hopefully Gabriel is alright. Hopefully he manages to get both of them out of here somehow.

Another tunnel branches off from the first one, and then they take a corner and there he is. Gabriel is kneeling on the rocky ground, arms secured behind his back with heavy chains. More chains wrap around his wings and from there to the support beams below the ceiling. The way that keeps Gabriel’s wings spread doesn’t look comfortable at all. The golden feathers are ruffled and broken at a few places, and Sam is pretty sure that alone shouldn’t make him that angry, but it does. Gabriel’s head has fallen forward, and at first Sam thinks he’s unconscious, but then he looks up and Sam sees a bit of blood on the angel’s face. There’s a glimmer of hope in the angel’s eyes, when he sees Sam, but his look is mostly guarded as if he isn’t sure what to expect. After a moment he still goes for a lopsided smile. “Samsquatch! We keep meeting while one of us is chained up. I’m not sure what the universe is trying to tell us.”

Sam can’t help it, he has to smile, too. “You look good in chains.” Gordon can interpret that as he wants. It’s definitely true, though. The way the lamplight reflects in Gabriel’s eyes and makes them look almost as golden as his wings. The way he’s keeping his head up proudly as far as his bonds allow makes it look like someone is in for a bad time as soon as he gets loose.

Or maybe it’s just that Sam is relieved to see him alive.

“We thought about taking his wings off before killing him,” Gordon says and reminds him, that Gabriel might not stay alive that much longer. “But we’ll do whatever you say.”

Gabriel lifts an eyebrow at Sam in question, worry shining through his smile now.

“First of all, I want a bit of time alone with him,” Sam says.

“Of course.” Gordon nods and turns to walk away. “His right middle wing is broken, by the way,” he says over his shoulder. “Just shake the chain and see. That little bird sings quite beautifully.”

That makes Gabriel’s smile vanish. His eyes go dark and his lips twist into a snarl, while Gordon laughs. He’s still laughing, when he vanishes behind the corner. While Sam waits for all sounds to die down, he inspects Gabriel’s bonds. Heavy padlocks keeps the chains in place and locked around Gabriel’s wrists. Finally he squats down in front of Gabriel. “Who has the key?” he whispers.

“Oh thank all the gods!” Gabriel whispers back. “For a moment I was worried you might actually be on their side.”

“Oh, come on! Do you really think I want revenge that badly?”

“Well, you have been moping about that thing with Zachariah quite a bit. Or you know …” Gabriel waggles his eyebrow. “You might just be a kinky bastard.”

Sam huffs. “Who has the key?”

“The walking piece of shit you just talked to.”

Oh great. “How many more people are there?”

“No idea. I’ve seen four so far. But they surprised me, hit me on the head. I woke up as cozy as I am now. Could be more I didn’t see.”

“Okay.” Sam tries to sound as confident as possible, even though he has a really bad feeling about fighting an unknown number of enemies. “I’ll get you out of here. Give me a minute.” He moves to get up.

“Sam, wait!”

Sam freezes and looks at Gabriel questioningly.

“In case you mess this up and I don’t get another chance. I wanted to kiss you for a while now.” There’s a twinkle in the angel’s eyes, that makes Sam snort a laugh and shake his head. Gabriel is unbelievable. And seeing the situation the angel is in right now, but still smiling and still flirting, it suddenly doesn’t seem that impossible any more to get over the scars on his back.

“Let’s make a deal,” he says. “I won’t mess this up and you’ll get a kiss as soon as we’re out of here.”

“Deal. But don’t think I won’t remind you of it.”

“I’m counting on it,” Sam says with a smile. Then he looks down the tunnel. No way Gordon won’t hear him coming. “Can you scream for me?”

“Well, that’s quite a leap, and I think you should buy me dinner first.”

Sam rolls his eyes. “I need something to cover up my footsteps.”

Gabriel sighs. “I’m too exhausted to fake it convincingly, just shake the chain.”

Surprised, Sam looks at the angel. “You sure?”

“Yes, come one. Do it, before I can change my mind.” Gabriel’s face is completely serious and determined now. So Sam grips the chain that’s wrapped around the right middle wing, and before he can think too closely about it, he shakes it hard.

The scream that comes over Gabriel’s lips, makes him wince. But there’s no time to feel sorry for what he did. Sam draws his sword and starts running.

He’s half down the corridor, when Gabriel’s scream ebbs down into shouted curses. “Sammy!” he sounds like he’s begging. “I thought we were friends!” Even knowing it’s fake, it still makes him wince again.

Another, actually less convincing scream follows, but then Sam is around the corner. Gordon is leaning against the wall, listening with a smile on his face. That smile dies, when he sees Sam. He scrambles for his own weapon, but what he’d seen fuels Sam’s anger. He’s faster, he swings his sword.

The next moment red paints the tunnel wall and Gordon’s head drops to the ground. His body follows shortly after.

Sam puts his sword back in its sheath and starts methodically searching for the key. Finally he finds it and hurries back to Gabriel.

* * *

As soon as Sam unwraps the chains from Gabriel’s wings, the angel collapses forward. Sam catches him. He wraps his arms around him to open the metals cuffs around his wrists, too, while Gabriel’s head is resting on his shoulder. Then he helps him up. Gabriel sways, tries to spread his wings to steady himself, and curses as his broken wing protests.

“Can you walk?” Sam asks. “Or do I have to carry you?”

“As tempting as that sounds, I think I can walk. Do you know the way out?”

Only now does it occur to Sam that this place could as well be a labyrinth. But he remembers how they got here. He leads Gabriel down the way they came, past headless Gordon. Gabriel whistles appreciably, when he sees Sam’s handiwork.

“He was tortured by Zachariah, too,” Sam says.

Gabriel tries to shrug, but just ends up clinging to Sam, cursing again. “I’d feel more sorry about that, if he hadn’t poked at my broken wing for hours earlier.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Not your fault, Samshine.”

They round the last corner, as far as Sam remembers, when they see it. Two more people in uniforms that make clear they also belong to the military. When they spot Gabriel, one of them shouts a warning. Sam lifts his sword, and the angel falls back a little, supporting himself on the wall.

“Listen,” Sam says, “I know you’re angry about the peace, but if you surrender now, you’ll get a trial and we’ll figure something out. You don’t want to fight me, do you?”

One of them shakes his head, but the other spits at his feet. “If you’re on the side of the angels, you’re a traitor to your own country. Then you too sold us out, just like your father did, when he signed the peace treaty.”

And Sam knows that’s bullshit, but it hurts nonetheless. He doesn’t have much time to think about it, though, because then the soldier is coming at him. Sam parries, steps aside, brushes the wall of the tunnel with his shoulder. There’s not enough room to fight in here! For a moment he loses his balance, and his opponent lifts his sword for a strike that Sam isn’t sure he’ll be able to dodge.

A golden wing hits the man and throws him back a few feet. Somewhere to Sam’s left Gabriel is cursing again, but he’s bought Sam enough time to get his balance back. He follows his opponent with two quick steps, sinks his sword in the man’s chest.

The other one turns and runs. Not far behind him is the door that probably leads outside. It’s heavy wood with metal fittings, and it takes the man a bit to work it open and stumble outside. Sam has almost caught up with him by then. The fleeing soldier runs down a dark path between trees, shouting warnings. When Sam moves to follow, someone steps in his path.

Sam takes a quick step back, hears wings rustle behind him, which means Gabriel has caught up, too. He doesn’t know the woman in front of him, even the way she dresses doesn’t look familiar at all. She doesn’t have a weapon, but then she opens her mouth – and opens it and opens it some more, until it takes up most of her face. It’s full of sharp teeth with a snake like tongue in the middle of it, and Sam reels back. “What the hell?”

“Leviathan,” Gabriel says grimly. He steps next to Sam, a sword in his hand he’s probably taken from the man Sam killed. His right middle wing is dragging on the ground, pulling the other two on the right side down with it, but the wings on the left side are raised in a way Sam knows from the war. This is an angel ready to fight. “Of course they use every opportunity they get to drive a wedge between us and our allies. Didn’t think they would’ve come this far south yet, though.”

“So they’ve used the people that were unhappy with the peace?” Sam asks. He can’t decide, if it’s better or worse that an outside force had been part of this. People like Gordon and the soldier he just killed are still bad enough on their own.

“Well, I know as much as you do,” Gabriel says, “but it sure as hell looks like it.”

Then the Leviathan lunges.

Sam drives his sword right into the creature’s belly as soon as it comes into reach. But instead of collapsing in pain and dying, it snaps its jaws and tries to bite off his face. Sam ducks out of the way in the last moment, and then Gabriel swings his own sword, jaws clenched in a way that makes it obvious that the movement is more than just a little painful. He still manages a clean cut through the creature’s neck. The head falls to the ground.

“Kick the head away!” he grinds out. For a moment Sam is confused, but then he sees the thing lying in the grass, still snarling. He kicks at it, avoiding the teeth, and the head flies into the bushes.

Only then the body drops. Gabriel drives his sword through the heart for good measure. “Best way to go is to burn them, but this should do the trick, too.”

Sam stares at the headless body in horror. “Holy shit, and you’ve been fighting those things?”

“What do you think why we agreed to the peace?” Gabriel says. “Couldn’t afford to keep fighting them and you. Drove them back for a while right after the treaty was signed, but apparently they’re not ready to give up yet.”

That should technically make Sam feel thankful towards the Leviathans, but he can’t bring himself to it. “Let’s go,” he says instead. “Before more of those things show up.”

* * *

They have no idea where they are and the sun is rising again, when they get to a small stream and Sam decides they both need some rest. There seem to be no pursuers, so maybe the got at least all the Leviathans. “Let’s sleep. We can try and find our way back home later.”

As soon as the decision is made, Gabriel just drops to the ground as if he had been held up by stubbornness alone. Sam bends down towards the water and drinks greedily from cupped hands. When Gabriel makes no move to do the same, Same collects some water for him, holds it up towards him. The angel’s lips touch his finger when he drinks, and the contact sends warm sparks up Sam’s arms. After the first few sips, Gabriel starts gripping his wrists while drinking, and Sam counts that as a good sign.

“Do we have to set your wing or something?” Sam asks.

Gabriel shakes his head. “That’s a bit too complicated to improvise. I’ll be fine until we get back and Raphael can have a look at it.” Then he looks at Sam with a twinkle in his eyes. Apparently the water had done wonders for him. “But I remember someone promising me a kiss.”

Sam laughs. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Of course I am. I’m one of a kind. I’m also a really good kisser. At least when I’m not in pain. I can’t promise too much now, but –”

He’s cut short with a muffled sound of surprise by Sam leaning forward and pressing his lips to Gabriel’s.

The angel really is a good kisser, even when in pain. The kiss is sweet and careful at first, but gets more demanding with time, his hand coming up into Sam’s hair to tilt his head just the way he wants it. Sam finds himself scooting closer, careful not to touch the injured wing. In the end it’s Gabriel who breaks the kiss and straightens up, pupils huge with just a small rim of gold brown still visible. “Now I really wish I didn’t have a broken wing.”

“We have time,” Sam says. “I think I’ve just decided to stay a bit longer.”

That makes the angel smile.

* * *

Adam wakes up, when the first streaks of sunlight fall through the window of their room. His face is smooshed into feathers, which probably means either Michael’s or Lucifer’s wing is asleep by now. He feels sorry for that, when he lifts his head.

The midnight color of the feathers tells him they’re Michael’s. The wings are wrapped around Adam, and when he turns his head, he sees his husband is fast asleep.

“Don’t wake him.” Lucifer is half sitting at the head of the bed, wings protectively spread over both of them. “He’ll have to get up again soon enough.”

Adam nods, relaxing into Michael’s embrace again, trying not to put too much weight on the wing. “Don’t try and run now, will you?”

Lucifer grins. “Don’t give me ideas.”

A knock at the door makes both of them startle. Before any of them can react, it gets shoved open, and Dean is standing in the doorframe. “Sorry to wake you, but we just –”

He stops, staring open-mouthed at Lucifer. After a moment his eyes slowly drift to Adam. “What the fuck?”

Adam sits up, when Michael stirs, too. Shit. Did that have to get out now? Outwardly, he just shrugs, though. Maybe Dean will believe that sharing a bed with your husband and his brother is just a normal thing in Caelum? “You were saying?”

Dean clears his throat and visibly pulls himself together. “We just got word from Sam’s pirate friend, Jess. Apparently Sam had a lead to where Gabriel is, and he’s nowhere to be found this morning. But luckily she has some means to tracking him. So, you coming, Michael?”

Michael nods. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Well, right …” Dean looks from him to Lucifer and then to Adam again. “I’ll just … We’ll wait for you down in the courtyard.”

“Thank you,” Michael says as if there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Adam really loves him for that.

As soon as Dean is gone again, they all share a look. “I’ll come, too,” Lucifer says finally, postponing talk about the other problem to a later date.

“No.” Michael’s voice doesn’t allow for an argument. He leans over and pulls Lucifer in by the back of his neck until they’re nose to nose. “It’s very likely that Gabriel is hurt, and I can’t have you go berserk on a group of humans no matter what they did. You’re staying here.” He plants a kiss on Lucifer’s lips that silences all protests, then he turns to Adam. “You have an eye on him.”

Adam sighs. “Of course.”

A bit later, Michael is gone, too, and Adam is eyeing the remaining angel warily.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Lucifer grumbles. “I’ll be good, if you manage to get some information about what’s going on.”

Adam smiles. “Deal.”

It doesn’t take too long to find someone who tells them about Sam’s suspicion that a group of people are behind Gabriel’s kidnapping who aren’t happy about the peace. It makes Adam think. So there are idiots like that on both sides. “Maybe you’re right,” he says finally, when they’re back in their room, Lucifer perching on a chair, because the backrest prevents him from properly sitting on it. “Maybe publicly apologizing to Sam isn’t that good of an idea. I mean, what if they pull the same kind of crap they did here back in Caelum, too? Who knows who else will get hurt.”

Adam can see Lucifer’s jaws working angrily, while he’s mulling this over. “Well, or maybe if someone in Caelum tries to pull something like that, we just kick their asses, too. Because I really don’t feel like being considerate of the feelings of assholes like that right now.”

That makes Adam grin. “Did you just basically say that I may be right?”

Lucifer scowls at him. “Don’t tell anyone.”

“So you did?” Adam laughs. “Oh, you can bet I’ll treasure that for a long time.”

Lucifer huffs. “Better think about what we tell Dean later, when he comes asking questions.”

Adam’s mood is way too good now to be ruined by that. “How about we tell him Michael likes to share everything with his brother?”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”

“He can hardly declare the marriage invalid without causing a major diplomatic incident.”

Lucifer grins. “I knew there was a reason we want to keep you.”

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't the end of it. There's more!


End file.
